Enclosed are the two stones that I mentioned
in our telephone conversation slightly over one week
ago. I have also included an unknown piece of rough
and a stone faceted from similar material - it is from
Madagascar, and with my instruments here, my cutter and I
thought that it could be hiddenite, but most likely
diopside(?). The stones we discussed include a Mali
garnet which is green in the pavillion and orangy near the
crown - it faces up as a nice looking Tsavorite, and a
large one at that! The other stone is from a strike
which came to my attention back in about 1996. The
material is from Madagascar and typically isn't very clean
in any size, but the inclusions can be cut around or
hidden - thereby producing eye clean stones of melee to
one carat sizes. Larger faceted pieces over two
carats is uncommon and pieces over 3cts are very far and
few between - there are two reasons for this finding, the
rough just isn't found that large and to find a really
nice piece of this material so that it will cut a clean
stone, limits the number of pieces dramatically. I
know of approximately 5 stones faceted that were over
3cts, but I have yet to see one in the 4ct range.
The material is found within in the center of the country
and supposedly takes 3 days to get there. The
'garnet' crystals are about the size of a fist or
softball, but are all fractured, producing small bits and
pieces - many rarely over 1 grams and on rare occasions, a
few over 2grams, and of these, even fewer would produce
cleanish stones. The black inclusions seem to be
platelets or lily pads vs. my initial thoughts of globular
shapes. I have heard from one individual who claims
that the inclusions have different colors such as green
and red (separate inclusions). The material has a
color shift from pale orange to a rosy color
(incandescent) and gives the impression of
dichroism. I have read an article that mentioned
there were materials where the longer the light remains in
the item, the more red flashes are picked up. From
the few people I have sold this material to, they have
indicated that gemologist have yet to sight ID the
stone, and some have guessed all kinds of stones,
including fancy diamond. I have gotten an RI of
1.76+/-. Everyone seems fascinated with the
material. I can obtain some more pieces, but it is
costly and I would most likely have to buy it outright.

Other material that GIA might find of
interest:

7.6+ct color change sapphire
(Kashmir Blue to Purple, over 50 years old, recut, origin
is Sri Lanka). Christie's
said it was the finest they had seen.

A 500ct Watermelon Slice (6-8mm thick) from
the 1972 Newry Maine Tourmaline
Strike - Carl Francis of the Harvard Gemological Museum
indicated to me in 1994
that it was the best watermelon slice that he had seen.

There will be a 3-5ct Paraiba-Like
tourmaline coming back from the cutters within
about one month.

Due out soon are some large neony Grossular
garnets from Tanzania - hopefully the cutting, clarity,
color and size will wow the audience!

That's it for now. I believe that I
can obtain a few more of the Imperial Malaia Garnet should there be
interest. I have lots of incredible pieces (all
types of species) should anyone at GIA or those associated
with the GIA, have an interest - for examination or for
purchase.